How to Request Your Medical Records for a Cannabis Evaluation

You have booked your evaluation, and now someone tells you to bring your medical records. If you have never asked for your records before, it can feel like a hassle with no clear starting point. This guide shows you which records help, what the law says about getting them, and how to keep a slow office from holding up your visit.

Which Records Help Most

A medical cannabis certification has to rest on a documented diagnosis. Your clinician needs to see, in writing, what condition you have and how it has been treated. The most useful records are usually:

• Visit notes from the provider who diagnosed or treats your condition, such as your primary care provider.
• Specialist letters or consult notes, for example from a neurologist, oncologist, pain specialist or psychiatrist.
• Imaging reports, such as MRI, CT or X-ray reports. The written report matters more than the images.
• Hospital discharge summaries if your condition led to a hospital stay.
• A medication list and notes on treatments you have tried.

Recent records tend to help more than old ones. You do not need your whole chart. Asking for a set date range and the record types above keeps the request smaller and often faster.

Your Right to Your Records

Under the HIPAA Privacy Rule, you have the right to see and get copies of your medical and billing records from your health care providers, with few exceptions. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) explains the key points:

• Timing. HHS says a provider must act on your request no later than 30 calendar days after receiving it. If they cannot, they may take up to 30 more days, but only once, and only if they tell you in writing within the first 30 days why, and when you will get them. HHS also says these are outer limits, and many offices can respond much sooner.
• Fees. A provider may charge a reasonable fee for copies. HHS says the fee may not be a per-page fee if your records are stored electronically, and a provider cannot charge you for searching for or retrieving your records.
• Unpaid bills. A provider cannot deny you a copy because you have not paid for past care.
• Exceptions. You do not have a right to a mental health provider's separate psychotherapy notes.

One detail matters for sending records to a new clinic. After a 2020 court decision, HHS says the HIPAA fee limits apply when you ask for your own copy, but not when you ask for records to be sent to a third party. HHS also says providers may send records to another provider for treatment or with your permission. So when you ask an office to fax records to us, ask what it will cost, if anything.

How to Ask, Step by Step

1. Call the records officeAsk the clinic or hospital how it handles requests. Many have a form, and some let you download records through a patient portal.
2. Put your request in writingUse their release form or a short signed letter. Name the records, the date range and where to send them.
3. Ask them to fax the records to usOur records fax is (701) 757-0974. You can also ask for your own copy and bring it to your visit.
4. Note the date and a contact nameWrite down when you sent the request and who you spoke to. It makes follow-up much easier.
5. Call us to confirmA few days later, call Will at (218) 274-4500 to check that the records arrived.

Our free records request letter tool writes a letter for you in a minute. Your answers stay in your browser. You can also adapt the sample below.

If Records Are Slow to Arrive

Records requests often move slower than people expect, especially from large health systems or old clinics. If yours stalls, stay polite and persistent.

• Call the records office, give the date you sent your request, and ask for a status update.
• Ask whether they can send what is ready now and the rest later. HHS encourages offices to send records in pieces when a request will take a while and you want them that way.
• Check whether your records are in a patient portal you can download from yourself.
• If the office goes past the HIPAA time limits without a written explanation, you can file a complaint with the HHS Office for Civil Rights.
• Call us. If your visit is coming up and the records are not here, Will can help you reschedule.

Next Steps

Ready to start? Use our free records request letter tool, read what to bring to your evaluation, or visit our patient resources. When your records are on the way, you can book your visit.